gender-specificity in the bible

7/30/2019 Gender-Specificity in the Bible

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GENDER SPECIFICITY IN THE BIBLE

An extract from the Smith&Smith Bible Commentary, available without any

cost from

http://sites.google.com/site/freecommentary

where the Bible-images mentioned below are much more fully explained

Summary: Gender Neutrality Destroys the Bible Mysteries and

Imagery

The language and content of the Bible are not gender-neutral, and that

is deliberate, since the word-pictures carry sexual imagery. Not leastof these is the mystery of Christ-and-the-Church as husband-and-wife.

The Bible's language gives the male priority. So does its content.

To avoid gender-specific terminology and to disavow gender-

inequitable roles, is to abrogate all the sexual and gender images ofthe Prophets, Law, Wisdom books, Gospels, Letters and Revelation.

There is no Bible teaching about 'equality within marriage', but theteaching about submission in marriage concerns the sexual roles in

particular (not submission in 'all things').

Creation is not gender-neutral.

Gender Specificity

You will notice that the main arena of gender-specific pictures is for

marriage. That is where opinions flare up against God. The laws of theland are being changed to rebel against the Bible's stereotypes. It is

the creation account, and Eden, which are the most hated and

discounted. Here is a rundown...

On page one we have the idea of God as Creator, life-giver, maker ofa sexual system of multiplication.

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

That is not a subservient role, or a shared role. It is quintessentially amale-gender role of 'initial causation'.

The earth is painted as a womb which brings forth life. The plants arebearers of fruit, with seed within the fruit.


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Gen 1:11 And God said, Let the earth [dry-ground] put forth grass,herbs yielding seed, andfruit-trees bearing fruit after their kind,

wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth: and it was so.

The whole picture of creation of life is immediately made explicitly

sexual.Life is blessed to multiply via 'male and female'.

The male is named first in such phrases, whether of man or animal.

Gen 1:27 And God created man in his own image, in the image of

God created he him;male and female created he them.

Gen 7:2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and

seven,the male and his female;

and of the beasts that are not clean two,the male and his female:

Gen 1:28 And God blessed them: and God said unto them, ['male

and female']

Be fruitful, and multiply,and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over

the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heavens,and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

He was made first.

Gen 2:18 And Jehovah God said, It is not good that the man

should be alone;I will make him a help, meet for [corresponding to] him.

Woman and Eve get separate names, but 'man' and 'Adam' are keptas the names for the male, and for the collective of both sexes.

Gen 2:23 And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and

flesh of my flesh:

she shall be called Woman (From-Man), because she was taken outof Man.

Gen 3:20 And the man called his wife's name Eve (Life-(bearer));

because she was the mother of all living.

The genealogy traces his line only, that is, through the males. Sons

are mentioned before daughters. (The order of mention is a live


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issue in the Bible, indicating importance.) Daughters are notnamed.

Gen 5:3-4 And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years,

and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his

name Seth:4 and the days of Adam after he begat Seth were eight hundred

years:and he begat sons and daughters.

Gen 6:18 But I will establish my covenant with thee; and thoushalt come into the ark,

thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee.

In other words, the entrenched linguistic conventions, and social

conventions, are already there from page one, not because of mindlessprejudice, but direct from God, and from His scheme of life on earth.

The idea of dominion is obvious from the start. The light overcomes

the darkness;

Gen 1:2-4 And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was

upon the face of the deep:and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the

light from the darkness.

The greater light dominates the day, and is stronger than the night

and its lights.

Gen 1:16 And God made the two great lights; the greater light to

rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made thestars also.

The image and likeness of God is set apart to dominate creation.

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after ourlikeness:

and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the

birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all the earth,and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

[Figuratively, Christ and his Church are set apart to rule, in theend]


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The man has the naming rights over woman and over his wife, as he

had naming rights over the animals.

Gen 2:19 And out of the ground Jehovah God formed every beast

of the field, and every bird of the heavens;and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them:

and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was thename thereof.

The husband is designated to 'rule over' the wife [after the sin of Eve].The context is sexual -- a partner corresponding to the male, for

reproduction and through which the living are given birth to. So'rule over' means 'she submits her body to him alone, not to any

other man'.

Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said,

I will greatly multiply thy pain and thy conception;in pain thou shalt bring forth children;

and thy desire shall be to thy husband,and he shall rule over thee.

The wording of 'image and likeness' is reserved for Adam as the 'son'of God.

Gen 5:1-3 This is the book of the generations of Adam.

In the day that God created man,in the likeness of God made he him; [and in His own image,Gen_1:26]

[=Adam was God's 'son']

2 male and female created he them,and blessed them, and called their name Adam,

in the day when they were created.3 And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years,

and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image ;

and called his name Seth:

Luk 3:38 [who was] the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son ofAdam, the son of God .

Eden is made as a 'voluptuous (sexually) pleasurable' garden, withdesirable and tempting fruits.

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made Jehovah God to grow every


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tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of lifealso in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of

good and evil.

It is 'watered by' streams of life-giving waters -- made fertile.

Gen 2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; ...

The idea of priority is there from the start: Creator before creatures;male before female; creatures for God; wife for husband.

The rest of the Bible remains consistent with these usages, both

linguistically and role-wise.

Gender Equality and Gender equity are not teachings from theBible

but are 'read back into' the text, out of come-lately values

It annoys me greatly to hear people quoting the Bible ingenuinely.

They may be unbelievers arguing against the Bible, or believers

mishandling the word, but that there has to be an argument aboutwhat has been the accepted practice of millennia, shows up that

something spiritual is trying to win ground by blinding our minds. That'something' opposes God, and the Bible. And the people love it.

The mantra 'we are all created equal; in the image of God, every oneof us' is wrongly understood and wrongly applied in the feminist

cause.

In the first instance, the spiritual prophecy housed within the creation

of the Image of God to rule, is fulfilled only in Christ. The subsequenthistory of the Messiah and the New Testament make that abudantly

clear; and the spiritual meaning is the ultimate intention, the longestlasting and the more important. You do not hear feminist-inspired

arguments loving the deeper meaning of Genesis 1.

Compare:

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our

likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and

over the birds of the heavens, and over the cattle, and over all theearth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.


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Col 1:15 ['our Lord Jesus Christ'] who is the image of the invisible

God, the firstborn of all creation [=heir and ruler];

Unbelieving 'believers' may quote a later verse, to avoid that pointed

point, but the theme of the Bible's interpretation of scriptures is: Inthe beginning it was like so, therefore you also follow the pattern of it,

in order to reflect its glory...

Gen 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be

shed:for in the image of God made he man.

[This seems to apply to all human life as sacred]

Now I bet that most of those who quote this 'created equal' idea, in

defence of feminism, do not believe in the death-penalty. That is thesort of ingenuine motivation in quoting the Bible which tries to blind

everyone to the truths in scripture, law and prophecy. (The death-penalty, for instance, is fundamental to the spiritual law of sin and

death. If you scrap it, you scrap God's blueprint.)

The New Testament verse trotted out in support of gender reform, is

that 'in Christ there is neither male nor female'. It too is wildlyoverquoted and misquoted.

Gal 3:28-29 There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be

neither bond nor free, there can be no male and female; for ye allare one man in Christ Jesus.29 And if ye are Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, heirs

according to promise.

Notice that the future and spiritual heritage is the binding theme

(What has that to do with gender roles in your marriage?).

The usage of a present tense ('can be', no male nor female) for a

future state, is common, e.g...

Mat 5:5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

One meaning therefore is probably that 'in Christ there will be no male

and female in the age to come':

Luk 20:34-36 And Jesus said unto them, The sons of this world['age'] marry, and are given in marriage:


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35 but they that are accounted worthy to attain to that world['age'], and the resurrection from the dead,

neither marry, nor are given in marriage:36 for neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the

angels; and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

The same could be said for master-slave; Jew-Gentile; rich-poor;

civilised-barbarian; leader-subject; religious-not religious;circumcised-uncircumcised.

It is not talking about marriage roles on earth. You only have to read

other verses by the same authors to come across explicit teaching ongender roles within marriage...

Eph 5:31-33 For this cause shall a man leave his father and

mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one

flesh.32 This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the

church.33 Nevertheless do ye also severally love each one his own wife

even as himself; and letthe wife see that she fear her husband.

Notice the theme: You should reflect, the way God wants it to be.

It is blindingly obvious that feminism, the driving force behind seekingto change gender stereotypes, set itself against the Bible from the

start. When anti-Bible vested-interests are quoting the Bible to provetheir come-lately point of view, they must be recognised asunbelievers in scripture, and from that, they must be known as

believers in an alien god, one not as described in the Bible.

As a general rule, false-arguments from the Bible focus on this life,

and its physical form, rather than emphasising the spiritualsignificance and powers of God, especially for the next life.

But instead of therefore scrapping the ancient heritage of the formof marriage (as 'outdated and unspiritual anyway'), there is a need

to reinforce Christian compliance to the Bible's precepts, in order tounderstand them by lived experience.Living a wrong sexual life, for instance, is no recipe for learning how

to please God.I am not advocating trying to live up to 'the ideal marriage', for that

will disappoint us all; But why try to live up to the sinfulalternatives?

I am not advocating a return to Middle-Eastern practices, but


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perhaps only a ceasing to join the mad rush away from all thingsBiblical.

Sex is a powerful image for how we are to receive spiritual life from

God, and God wants it that way, with His eye on the future good.

Legitimate sex, in legitimate marriage, is the way He wants it done,but there are ways other than moralising legalism to achieve the

spiritual equivalent. God for instance, is well-known for His breakingthe rules, like marrying a second wife to move His divorced-wife to

jealousy. That is the 'mystery of the gospel going to the Gentiles'.

If those who quote the Bible, believers or unbelievers, are not telling

of the power of the Spirit of the Life-giving God, they have missed themain game.

But how can they even play the game, when they disregard the

given, physical rules?

Bible Imagery depends on Pre-existing Gender Specific Roles,

as outlined in the Bible from the start

All the parts of creation are used as metaphors for spiritual truths

about the next age. In fact they have been purpose-designed to holdthe image of the invisible future. Let's look at some which have

already been mentioned:

God as CreatorRevelation makes clear that the praise will go to Him on the basisof Him being Creator. The theme is the defeat of false gods. The

'Beast' is literally the 'creature', and all creation falsely worships the'image' of 'the creature'. Idolatry is about worshiping the image of a

visible creature rather than worshiping the invisible Creator (and

His True Image, Christ).Earth as a womb

The final shaking and removing of the land (and also the skies, andsea) pictures the earth 'writhing as in childbirth', in 'giving birth to

the spirits of the dead', in which the old earth 'dies in childbirth'.The mystery of Christ and the ChurchThis is explicitly made a model for our marriages too, by Paul, who

was taken into God's heaven (to see how things were, and tell uswhat he could). But the focus is on the mystery being outworked

through the church, into eternity, not on rules to live by now.Eden of fruitfulness, pleasure and desire

Paradise represents the desirability of living with God. The covenant


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of forgiveness is explicitly pitched as a marriage covenant. TheBride of Christ will 'live with God' in His tabernacle, under His roof;

and Eden appears to be His house-garden.Sexual marriage

Man is made to be 'joined with' God. What does that mean

spiritually? You, whether male or female, receive His spirit. Youremain faithful to Him alone. You are co-heir and are entrusted with

running part of the estate. You are expected to bear fruit for Him --of righteousness, just-dealing, mercy and so on.

Mankind in God's image

Mankind 'reflects God's glory'. That's a prophecy, not a sadreflection on God!

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.Male gender having priority, and dominion

Man leaving his father, is like Christ leaving heaven for earth.

Dominion reflects Christ's dominion over the 'beasts' in the end-times.

Husband having priority and dominionMales reflect Christ's glory; Wives reflect the husband's glory.

Christ is head over the body, the church.That's the setup. We are all pretty much bluffed by it.

Eve sinning before Adam

Christ lays down his life for his wife, like Adam joined Eve.She needs his salvation.

He has rule over her.

The interpretations are only partial. Scripture outlines a top-downpoint of view. The point is that the fuller meanings of the beginningsare way beyond our normal understanding. We cannot confidently

argue about marriage roles based on a bottom-up analysis, madebefore the denouement.

Ask yourself how you could understand these deeper things ofscripture, were it not for the helps given by visible object lessons, and

their written interpretations. To remove gender inequality from theBible, or from society, would be to put on a blindfold and earmuffs.

Here are some gender unequal object lessons and spiritual meanings:

Father and Son and Spirit as male roles for God:Father

Father is one of the meanings of 'Creator'. The feminine form isCreatrix.

But 'mothers' are in need of sperm-givers, and God is not like that.


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Fathers take responsibility. God sacrificed His son in response to sinin His creatures.

Jesus as God's SonThe true Image and likeness; A daughter is not quite an exact

image of a male.

The priestly, servant and sacrificial nature of a firstborn son is oneof those image-complexes of the Bible, junked by modern society

which does not recognise the prototypes of scripture; Firstborns arenot treated equally to others in the Bible, but what do we care

nowadays?

The story is one of redemption of the 1st Adam by the 2nd Adam.He is heir to the father's throne, the king of the coming kingdom.

What do you care about that? We trash the idea of an angry king oran angry God, so we will be in for a surprise when we fall as dead,

in His overpowering presence.

SpiritInseminating=life-causing. (Female Spirit is an invention of other

teachings. Listen to the proven prophets, and confusion about God,drops away.)

The Life image is about the next life.The begotten-of-spirit image is a promise of resurrection (a new

birth into a new world).

Church and Bride as wife, servant, fruit-bearerWe are to do the righteous works of God.

We are not equal to our maker.We are loved, from above.

Head and bodyThe members of the church body receive the word of God from theSpirit.

The church is accepted by God -- married into the family, part ofthe Trinity!

Is that what you would prefer to do without?

Master and slave-girlMankind is redeemed from slavery to sin, to serve a new master,

righteousness.How can we catch the joy of that, when we despise slavery, and

such marriages?Father-in-laws arranging a marriage between their childrenHow can we appreciate even the picture and the feelings, seeing

that we condemn arranged marriages?God is the Father of the Son whom He wants to marry off to a

suitable bride.Abraham, is the father of a multitude of children of faith,

collectively known as the Church of God's chosen ones, the Bride.


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The Seed of Abraham is the Messiah Christ, adopted by God as Hisown chosen Son and heir.

Bride-price; Bridal gifts and ornamentsThe blood sacrifice of the Lamb of God, is Jesus laying down His life

to redeem his wife from slavery, for the purposes of marriage.

Spiritual gifts are the gifts showered upon the bride to make herlook radiant.

The Holy Spirit of God is what makes her spotlessly clean from guiltbefore God.

(Listen to a false prophet's religion, and you get a backwards view

of who gives what and gets what, in an arranged marriage. Suchconfusion is a result of shunning the teaching aids supplied.)

Shepherd-Bridegroom and Sheep-BrideIn the Bible, the two ideas are mixed. How can we begin to

understand the picture, or even notice that it is there, if we despise

the way God arranges the pieces?The Good Shepherd figure is the leader, guide, healer, protector of

the vulnerable and weak, who lays down his life for the sheep --and there you can begin to notice the mixing with the heavenly

Bridegroom-Bride metaphor.Raider-Bridegroom and Kidnapped-Bride

Middle-Eastern marriage ceremonies stage a mock hit-and-run-

away-with-the-bride scene. That reflects the unexpected return ofChrist to rescue his chosen beloved ones from the grip of the Devil.

He has to break down the gates of Death, to do so.That involves an end-times fight, a resurrection and a rapture.

King and QueenWe want to get rid of remnant monarchies, which is like getting ridof God, Christ and Christianity. How will we navigate if we remove

the buoys?The promise is that the first resurrected will rule with Christ; They

are described as a bride, and as virgins, named after Him and His

Father, with him constantly.What is not appreciated these days, is that the king's court is a

place of justice, mercy and spirit, a legal 'court', with real teeth.The queen seated beside the king plays the role of interceding.

Bride-priestPriests draw near for service; and wives are near, and do serve.Revelation uses both pictures interchangeably, for the redeemed.

Wives serve their father-in-law -- which is another unwelcomedpicture of life as it should be in God's eyes.

This life gives us no warmth for priests, or in-laws, or kings, orslave-owners, and many such things, but the heavenly equivalent is

untainted by corruption and sin. It will be a positive joy to have God


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as your Father. Why not start to picture the positive side of thepromises given?

The heavenly woman in Rev_12:1Try to decipher the vision John saw of a woman in the sky, and you

realise that she is full of all these images and more. But you would

be greatly impoverished if you discounted them one by one as'morally wrong and offensive'.

Mother city and virgin daughter;This is a sad image, since cities in the Bible get raped by 'invaders'

'going in through her gates'. Her daughters are stolen; her

delightful treasures plundered.It seems to be an out-working of the curse on woman, of suffering

in things to do with childbirth; and the childbirth is about Christbeing born, in suffering, and to suffer, and then there is the

resurrection to new life, which costs the mother her old life.

Sexual relations on earth include horrible and unwanted things likeadultery and cuckolding. These are part of the Bible's message, and

the wise will take to heart the bad with the good, in order tounderstand the way we treat God, and God's chosen.

The mother-city prophecies include a turnaround; redemption;cleansing; sanctification; ultimate rejoicing.

The other woman, in Revelation, 'Babylon the Harlot'

How else can you understand God's jealous anger against falseworship, false gods, false images and false truth? A jilted husband

is the ultimate picture of red-hot anger. We have laws against suchbehaviour now, and legalise prostitution instead. We do that sort of

thing to God, knowing so much better than He. Why is he angry?The theme of the Bible is broken covenants; The 1st command ofthe Law was 'Don't' run after other gods (spiritual harlotry). But we

are not allowed to discriminate against sinners any more, only onthe basis of their sin. So God should 'get over it' and 'get on with

life'. Why is He so touchy anyway?

The Song of Songs, is explicitly sexual..and is about Christ and his Bride

It makes you feel loved, if you let yourself be sexist.Sex

Life, is the ruling spirit of the Universe, so sex, is not banned fromscriptures which illustrate that spiritual truth. It is pervasive.Christ as Lord and Master

The Bible projects a servant God; Such a Lord is valuable indeed.The Biblical 'husband' is such a servant-lord.

Jesus was a teacher of disciples. Wisdom is the teacher of man.Jesus was Wisdom incarnate. We take the submissive role. That is

pictured as wifely.


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The Bible portrays the spiritual conflict as strong households at war;A 'strong man guarding his goods' (prisoners) is a male-centred

image.The 'household' image has a 'master' at its head, and plenty of

servants. How can we 'fit in to His house' when we say 'Jack, and

his wife, are as good as his master'?The Bible's word for 'master' is also used for 'owner'. Do you want

God to disown you? Why then do we disown His imagery and role-modelling, and refuse to submit to them?

Seduction

Satan targeted the woman, with false wisdom. That's usurping ahusband's spiritual role over his wife. Spiritual seduction is the

enemy throughout the Bible.Satan opposed Man, by picking on the weaker half.

(He opposed God, by picking on the easier target, the mortal,

murderable Son of Man.)Birth and Labour Imagery is big in the prophecies

It speaks of resurrection, among many related things.Children are the natural consequence of sexual marriage.

Children of God are the spiritual consequence of submitting to Him.Sowing seed to another god, reaps fire.

Firstborn-child

The heir of the future kingdom.He gets the inheritance, and its rulership, to share out as he

pleases.Fertility cult jargon figures here and there in the Bible, along with

astrology, and pagan worshipThe picture in the sky is of god + goddess producing many childrenof God, and some wayward wanderers. The invisible God uses the

visible skies as a pregnant metaphor for the kingdom of heaven.Eph 5:32-33 This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ

and of the church. 33 Nevertheless do ye also severally love each

one his own wife even as himself; and letthe wife see that she fearher husband

The characteristic of our times is a throwing off of respect for God and

Bible. But can we even agree on an alternative? If we are so smart,why couldn't we have made a more durable Bible?We are witnessing a loss of agreed-upon morals and of absolute truth.

Since we are so 'liberated' from restraint, why are we mired in troublesof our own making?

There is a descent into chaos, a growth of false religion and a declinein true religion. If we are so wise, why couldn't we point out where

God went wrong?


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Why do we prefer a meaningless life and extinction, to searching forand receving the Spirit of God?

The rot set in when we despised the depths of the writings of the trulyinspired prophets chosen by the God of the Hebrews.

When their Messiah did arrive, as advertised, on time, we took it as an

excuse to throw off religious restraint, to practise heaven on earth, torely on unproven prophets, to preach universal love and forgiveness,

and to joyfully drop the fear of God. Somehow we have missed thepoint.

If those ear-muffs are not so tight now, you might hear the Bible's

version, that we should fear the one who loves us:

Eph 5:32-33 This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christand of the church.

33 Nevertheless do ye also severally love each one his own wife

even as himself;and letthe wife see that she fear her husband.

gender-specificity in the bible

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